Thanks to LI homeowners, helicopter rides to Hamptons will become more costly

Residents of Floral Park on Long Island have scored a victory over wealthy New Yorkers who fly helicopters over their homes towards the Hamptons on summer weekends. According to the New York Times, the Federal Aviation Administration has acquiesced to Senator Charles Schumer’s long standing push on behalf of those constituents and intends to ban helicopters from flying directly over Long Island — except in emergencies.

“Talk to anyone who lives in scores of communities from Floral Park and Port Washington,” Schumer said. “It’s an awful disruption when you invested your savings in your home and you can’t enjoy your house or sit in the backyard from Memorial Day to Labor Day.”

Residents complain of fly overs every five minutes on busy nights.

But for the city’s elites — including Prudential Douglas Elliman Chairman Howard Lorber, who frequently flies there by chopper — the new regulation will make trips to the Hamptons less pleasant. There are now fewer routes helicopters can take, and the trip will be longer, less scenic and more expensive. [NYT]